


You Didn't Have To (Honeybee)

by Calliope Starling (CitrusApple)



Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Cute, F/M, Fluff, Guitars, Have you heard Tom sing?, His voice is like an angel's, Kissing, Love, One Shot, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Singing, Song Lyrics, Songfic, Steam Powered Giraffe - Freeform, Steampunk, Tom plays guitar and sings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:11:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrusApple/pseuds/Calliope%20Starling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom gives Amber a few sweet surprises! (Lots and lots of FLUFF)</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Didn't Have To (Honeybee)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dominion_of_Dust1886](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dominion_of_Dust1886/gifts).



> Hello, Tom Hiddleston fans!
> 
> I wrote this as a thank you for Dominion_of_Dust1886 (one of my besties) because she is making me awesome jewelry for a Steampunk cosplay we're doing at a Con in November.
> 
> Honeybee by Steam Powered Giraffe is one of her favourite songs, and she's mentioned a few times that she can picture Tom singing it in her ear. So I went from there.
> 
> Love you, Amber!

“Tom, can I please take this blindfold off, now?” Amber asked, getting frustrated with not being allowed to see anything.

“Not just yet, darling. Keep walking. I’ve got you.” Tom said, keeping his hands on Amber’s shoulders, steering her so she wouldn’t bump into anyone or anything.

She still wasn’t sure exactly what kind of surprise Tom had planned for her. He’d put the blindfold on her right after lunch, and told her she couldn’t remove it until he said so. He even made her wear a shirt that she was not allowed to look at first, having helped her put it on since she couldn’t see anything. She could tell it was a normal cotton T-shirt, and it fit her perfectly. Normally she would have been nervous about wearing something she wasn’t allowed to look at and try on first, but she trusted Tom.

After Tom had helped her into the car and drove her around for a while, (purposely making lots of unnecessary turns so Amber wouldn’t be able to guess which way they were going) they’d arrived at their destination.

Now Tom was leading Amber through what sounded to her like a huge crowd of people. She tried to listen in on conversations, hoping for hints of what was going on to be dropped, but it was so noisy in general that she could barely hear herself think, much less understand anyone around her.

Finally, he guided her to a chair and had her sit down. Amber felt the armrests and the chair Tom was sitting in next to hers, and silently determined that they were the kind of seats that were always in theaters or concert halls. That narrowed it down a bit, but there were still so many possibilities of exactly what it could be.

“The lights are dimming now… I think it’s safe to take that blindfold off you.” Tom said, putting his hands on where it was tied at the back of Amber’s head over her reddish hair. Amber heard clapping and cheering from all the people around them. The second Tom had the tie undone, he said “Surprise, darling!” and pulled it away from her face. When Amber’s eyes came back into focus, she looked up and saw the three members of Steam Powered Giraffe walking onto the stage in front of her.

Amber squealed in utter delight as they stood up to cheer with the rest of the audience. Tom had gotten them both front row seats to the show. She finally remembered to look down at the shirt Tom had helped her put on, and saw that it had the cogs and giraffe that were the group’s logo on it. She glomped Tom, nearly making him fall over, and he laughed as he hugged her back.

“Tom, thank you! Thank you so much! What did I do to deserve such a nice surprise?” Amber asked.

“I love seeing you happy. Isn’t that reason enough, my dear?” Tom said, winking at her.

Amber’s smile grew wider. “You didn’t have to do this to make me happy, but I love it so much!” she said, kissing him quickly before they sat back down to watch the show.

Amber had a great time getting to see the antics and hear the high musicianship level of the group that she’d only been able to admire on YouTube videos before. And what had made it even better was that Tom seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as she was. He laughed and clapped along with everyone else, smiling the entire time.

Tom had never heard of Steam Powered Giraffe before Amber had told him about them. She knew the only exposure to the group that Tom ever got was when she was playing their videos on her laptop while he’d be on the other side of the living room, studying a script or something. So Amber was incredibly happy that Tom liked the show.

After the show, Tom took Amber’s hand and quickly led her to a door with a security guard standing by it. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to the guard, who nodded and opened the door for them.

“What was that?” Amber asked as they walked through the doorway and started down the hall.

“That was a VIP pass.” Tom answered, smirking as he watched Amber’s eyes grow wider. “Now, we won’t have a lot of time with the group, as we aren’t the only ones with these passes, but there should be enough time to get autographs and—“

Tom was cut off by Amber’s very unrefined squee. “Tom, you’re the best!” she exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

He returned the hug quickly, breaking away from it as he noticed other people were coming in that door. “Come on, darling. Other people are starting to show up. We’ll be the first ones in if we move now.”

They hurried to the open door at the end of the hallway where the group was hanging out. Amber had a very hard time keeping her excitement in check as she and Tom introduced themselves to Rabbit, The Spine, and Hatchworth. Amber told them how much of a fan she was, and how much she and Tom enjoyed the show. The group was kind enough to give them autographs and let them get a picture.

A guard popped in to tell Tom and Amber their time was up, so they quickly thanked the three performers again and headed for the door. Before they could leave, Rabbit came up and tapped Tom on the shoulder. Tom turned and they whispered something quickly to each other before they shook hands again and bid each other good night. Amber tried to question Tom about it right away, but there were more noisy fans flooding the hall. It wasn’t quiet enough to hear anything until they got back to the parking lot and into their car.

On the drive back to Tom’s house, they discussed the show, each of them pointing out their favourite antics and what songs they liked best.

“So, Tom, how in the world did you get tickets? They were all sold out when I looked.” Amber inquired as they walked through their front door.

Tom chuckled as he closed the door behind them, and they both kicked off their shoes. “I sort of had to play my ‘celebrity card’ to pull it off. That comes in handy when you really need it to.”

“Why, Thomas William Hiddleston! Using your status for personal gain… how ‘famous person’ of you.” Amber said with a huge grin on her face.

“It got you front row tickets, didn’t it?” Tom pointed out with a laugh.

“That it did. But wait… It was a full house tonight! I sat at my computer watching the clock and waiting for them to go on sale. It told me they were sold out before I could even enter my information.” Amber said.

“I may have had to personally contact Steam Powered Giraffe and work out a deal with them.” Tom said.

“Oh my god, Tom… When Rabbit stopped you on our way out, is that what you were talking about?” Amber asked.

Tom nodded. “Precisely that. I actually had to tentatively book the entire theater, and then ‘return’ all the seats after I was sure you had tried to order the tickets yourself.”

Amber stared at Tom, mouth agape. He grinned at her and was about to tell her she’d been “Loki’d”, but he didn’t get the chance. Amber threw her arms around his neck and gave him a nice, long kiss. When the kiss broke, Amber grabbed Tom’s hand and pulled him along behind her.

“Come on. We’re going to bed.” Amber told him.

“I’m not tired yet, love.” Tom stated.

“I didn’t say we were going to sleep” she said, eyebrow raised.

Tom just grinned as he allowed himself to be led to the bedroom.

 

****The next morning****

 

The sun shone brightly through the window, rousing Amber from her slumber. She grumbled a bit and threw her arm over her eyes to shield herself from the blinding rays.

She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when she heard a faint sound; pitches wavering up and down before settling on a pure tone. Curious, she threw the blankets off and pushed herself out of bed. She put on the set of pajamas she kept in the drawer he’d given her and left the bedroom.

The delightful aroma of tea and breakfast pastries wafted into Amber’s nose as soon as she entered the kitchen. Thanks to the open floor plan, she could see Tom over in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, guitar in hands, slightly adjusting the tuning knobs and gently strumming. When he seemed satisfied with the adjustments, he looked up, smiling when he saw Amber.

“Good morning, darling” he said as he stood up and set his guitar on the couch. “I didn’t wake you with that, did I?”

“No, you didn’t.” Amber replied, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “The sun woke me up.”

A whistling noise started, and Tom jogged to the kitchen. “The tea is almost ready” he said, giving Amber a quick peck on the cheek on his way to the stove. After he’d taken care of the kettle, Amber tugged on his arm, pulling him to her.

“Now, what kind of good morning kiss was that?” she asked him with a mischievous smile and raised brow.

“The kind you give when you don’t want the stove to set on fire.” Tom replied, then laughed when Amber rolled her eyes at him. “But, I suppose you deserve a proper kiss, milady.” He leaned down to kiss her, cupping her cheek. When he hummed sweetly into the kiss, Amber pulled him closer and deepened it, but Tom broke it quickly.

“Easy, darling” he chuckled. “I think I’m still a bit worn out from last night’s, um… reward.”

Amber winked at him. “You deserved it.  Though I’m really surprised you woke up before me after that.”

“If I hadn’t wanted to go for my morning run, I think I’d still be asleep.” Tom said with a smile as he turned back to the stove to get the tea ready. Amber took a seat at the bar height counter and admired his backside whilst he did so. Tom soon set her tea and breakfast in front of her, which she thanked him for, then he took his own cup and set it on the dining table behind Amber before going back to the living room. He picked up his guitar and brought it back to the table with him, pulling the strap over his neck before taking a seat.

“You haven’t brought your guitar out in a while.” Amber said, swiveling around in her stool to face him.

“I haven’t had the time to in a while. I thought it might be nice to play around with it a bit.” Tom said, placing his hands on the strings.

“Will you play something for me?” she asked.

“Maybe later, darling” he replied, lightly strumming a random chord progression.

Amber shrugged and turned back to her breakfast. She took another sip of her tea and smiled. Nobody could brew as perfect a cup as Tom could.

“You know which guitarist’s playing I really enjoyed?” Tom said suddenly. “The group member from last night who was playing during their sets.”

“The Spine” Amber said.

“Yes, that’s the one. He strums nice and light, and it’s not too in-your-face.”

Then something occurred to Amber. She swiveled back around to face Tom. “You know… they did a lot of songs last night, but they didn’t sing my favourite one.”

“Which one is that?” Tom asked.

“The one called Honeybee. It’s very sweet. But maybe they couldn’t do that one because The Jon isn’t in the group now.” Amber replied.

“Hmm. Have I heard that one?” Tom asked.

“I’m sure you did, at some point. I think I play their music around you enough that you would have heard it at least a couple of times.”

“I’m sorry, love. I’m not sure I remember it.” Tom says before turning his attention back to his guitar. Amber turned back to her tea as he plucked a random melody for a minute before switching to strumming chords again.

Tom finally settled on strumming on a D flat chord, soon putting a rhythm to it. He stood quietly, still playing the same chord. Then he took in a deep breath.

 _You didn’t have to look my way_ Tom sang.

Amber nearly dropped her teacup.

_Your eyes still haunt me to this day_

She swiveled around to face Tom, mouth agape, and blinked in surprise.

_But you did… yes, you did_

_You didn’t have to **say my name**_

Tom couldn’t resist singing that part a bit louder, and Amber let out a short giggle at him.

_Ignite my circuits and start a flame_

_But you did…_

_Oh, turpentine, erase me whole_

_Cause I don’t want to live my life alone_

_Well I was waiting for you all my life_

_Oh, why…_

_Set me free_

_My… honeybee…_

_Honeybee…_

Tom stepped closer to Amber, standing right in front of her.

_You didn’t have to smile at me_

Amber smiled, right on cue.

_Your grin’s the sweetest that I’ve ever seen_

_But you did… yes, you did_

_You didn’t have to offer your hand_

Tom managed to stop strumming, take Amber’s hand, quickly kiss it, and get back to strumming in time with the song.

_Cause since I’ve kissed it, I am at your command_

Amber began to fan at her face, rolling her eyes up to try to keep her emotions at bay.

_But you did…_

Amber was usually very good at keeping her emotions hidden, but hearing Tom sing her this song broke through all her defenses. She turned back to the counter, no longer able to look directly at him, overwhelmed by the love she felt for him.

_Oh, turpentine, erase me whole_

Tom stepped up right behind her, leaned in, and began softly singing into her ear.

_Cause I don’t want to live my life alone_

_Well I was waiting for you all my life_

A few tears sprung from Amber’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly and kept her eyes closed to try to prevent further tears.

_Oh, why…_

_Set me free_

_My… honeybee…_

_Honeybee…_

Tom let the last chord ring fully before taking the strap off and setting the guitar back on the table. He came back up behind Amber again and ran his hand through her hair.

“I guess I remembered that song after all” Tom tried to say nonchalantly, but he was too proud of himself to hide the big grin on his face. The grin faded when he noticed Amber wouldn’t look up at him. “Amber? What is it, darling?”

Amber finally swung back around and threw herself into his arms. The last few tears fell from her eyes as she hugged him tight.

“Tom… I… I don’t quite know what to say” she said as she looked up at him. “I could tell you it was lovely, it was sweet, it was romantic. But I feel like all those words just fall flat. How did you…?”

“Rabbit was also kind enough to send me the sheet music when I made the deal for the seats. I’ve been practicing in my free time when you haven’t been over.”

“You learned that just for me? Oh, Tom, you didn’t have to…”

“You’ve been saying that a lot lately” he mused. “No, I didn’t have to, but I did because, well… because I love you, Amber. I love you, and I want to give you the world.” Amber gasped, but Tom continued. “But I can’t literally give you the world, so I use what resources I do have to give you what I can. I want to take you to more concerts, sing you more songs, and make you more tea. I want to go on more walks with you, take more trips with you. I want to fall asleep with you and wake up with you in my arms. I want to give you a place in my home because you are my girl, and so long as you are my girl, I will not have you living in a tiny rental flat when you can be here and I can see you more. I want you to have an entire closet, not just a drawer. And most important of all, Amber, I want to give you my heart. It’s yours, if you’ll have it… have me.”

Fresh tears spilled down her face, but Amber was smiling as big as the Cheshire Cat. “I love you too, Thomas. So much.”

Tom kissed her so sweetly that her foot popped. Then he pulled back and took her face in his hands. “So is that a yes, then? Will you move in with me?”

“Yes, of course I will! I’ll call my landlord and tell him I’ll be out at the end of the month.”

“Fantastic, darling!” Tom said, holding her tight. “Finish breakfast and get dressed. I’ll take you for a walk in the park, and then we’ll go have lunch to celebrate.”

Amber nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

“By the way, darling, did I sound okay on that song?”

“Are you kidding, Tom? I loved it so much!”

“I’m glad, love. I’m also kind of glad Steam Powered Giraffe didn’t do that song last night, because then you would have had their version fresh in your mind, and mine probably would have just paled in comparison.” Tom said, laughing at himself.

“You loon” Amber said, smacking him in the arm.

“Oh, a loon, am I?” Tom said, mischievously wiggling his eyebrows. “Come here and I’ll show you just how much of a loon I can be.”

Amber squealed as Tom chased her all the way to _their_ bedroom.


End file.
